My Best Friend's Brother is the One For Me
by Floral-Foxes
Summary: The first time Blaine Anderberry met Kurt Hummel was at the New Directions first sectionals, much to his sister's chagrin.  AU Blaine/Rachel siblings, Klaine
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Happy Holidays everyone! I have a Klaine Christmas story planned out, but barely any of it is written, so I doubt that one will be posted. So instead, have some beautiful Anderberry goodness! This will be a multi-chapter fic. ****I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't think this is necessary, but I do not own Glee or any of the characters in it.**

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><p>The first time Blaine Anderberry met Kurt Hummel was at the New Directions first sectionals, much to his sister's chagrin. ("You're going to go tell the Warblers all our secrets!" "Rachel we aren't even competing against each other.") Blaine had been surprised, to say the least. According to Rachel, the entire group (besides her and some boy named Finn) was only 'satisfactory' singers, but Blaine had rather enjoyed everyone's voices. And he knew his sister liked to be overly dramatic and full of herself sometimes; he took everything she said with a grain of salt.<p>

Blaine had never been more proud of her, though, as he watched her sing 'Don't Rain on my Parade'. She was a performer through and through, much like him.

When the announcement came that they had won, Blaine literally jumped from his seat. He was almost more excited for Rachel's win than he had been for the Warblers'. Even though he would never admit it, Blaine looked up to Rachel, and seeing her happy made him happy.

Once the seats started clearing, Blaine hurried out into the hall, eager to congratulate Rachel. He spotted her standing next to some giant of a boy. _Finn_, the name came to him. Rachel was always going on and on about the greatest guy in the entire world, a guy that finally just 'got her' like no other guy ever had. ("What other guys?" Blaine had snickered.)

"Congratulations, Rachel!" Blaine pulled his sister into a hug. Rachel squeezed him tightly, slightly bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Thank you, thank you! That was so amazing!" Rachel's smile was so big it must have hurt her face. Blaine's smile was just as wide.

"I'm so happy for you." Blaine noticed the boy standing awkwardly to Rachel's left, and turned to him with an outstretched hand. "I'm Blaine."

"Uh, Finn."

"Congrats."

"Oh, thanks, dude." Finn glanced awkwardly between Rachel and Blaine. Rachel smiled even harder at him.

"I've told you about my brother, right Finn?"

"Not really." Finn shrugged. Blaine laughed as Rachel squirmed uncomfortably.

"That's alright. She doesn't like talking about me because she knows I'm more talented."

Rachel narrowed her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulders, "As if. Come on, Finn; let's go find the rest of the New Directions. I'll see you at home, Blaine."

Blaine smiled good humoredly at their retreating backs and went to go find the bathroom. He had had a huge slushy (Rachel said they tasted amazing, and she would know-she'd had them thrown on her enough) before the show and now, two hours later, his bladder was screaming.

He had just turned the corner when he ran into a wall, knocking Blaine to the ground. The wall yelped and, wait, walls don't…

Blaine looked up from the carpeted ground, and met the very blue eyes of a stranger.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I wasn't even looking. Are you okay?" The stranger extended a hand to Blaine, and Blaine took it without question. The stranger's voice was soft and high, and Blaine wasn't sure it was possible for a guy to have such soft hands. His face still retained some of its baby fat, but he was a far cry from unattractive.

"Thanks, but why are you the one apologizing? I'm the one that ran into you," Blaine smiled ruefully at the other boy.

"It's fine, but hey, if you're okay, I'm kind of in a hurry. My group just won and I want to go celebrate with them."

"Oh, you're part of the New Directions?" Blaine smiled. Man, that boy really had beautiful eyes.

They sparkled when he replied, "Yes, and I'm beyond happy so, I'm going to go. Sorry, again!" the boy quickly sidestepped Blaine and Blaine panicked.

"I'm Blaine by the way!"

"Kurt!" 'Kurt' called over his shoulder with a grin. And then he had disappeared into the room his sister was in. Blaine stood rooted in spot for a couple moments, slowly coming back to reality. He spun on his heel and continued on his way to the bathroom, a dazed expression still on his face.

* * *

><p>Blaine ended up getting lost three times on the way home (his mind kept wandering to blue-), so by the time he got home, Rachel was already there. She was out of her dress and heels, and was lounging comfortable on the couch in sweats. Some old movie was playing on the TV (probably some Barbra classic, Blaine inwardly chucked), but Rachel was more interested in the conversation she was having on the phone.<p>

"Wouldn't that be a fantastic idea?" Rachel twirled a piece of her around her finger. Blaine smiled at her when she heard the door shut and looked up. She held a finger up to him and he walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. "I was thinking about inviting all the girls. I still feel bad about what happened with Quinn…It was not my fault! …Okay maybe it sort of was."

Blaine knew about the whole Quinn-Finn-Puck fiasco, it was all Rachel ever talked about. Well, Finn was all Rachel talked about, so anything involving Finn, he normally knew about. Even though he was normally at Dalton, Rachel was good at keeping regular contact with him.

Blaine hadn't been too shocked when Rachel told him what she did. He knew she had strong feelings for Finn, but he couldn't say that he wasn't disappointed. Blaine could understand passion and romance, and doing anything for the person you love, but telling Finn he wasn't the father of Quinn's baby (without Quinn's permission) was kind of cruel.

"…You never know, they _could_ come…yes, yes, of course Kurt is invited." Rachel rolled her eyes. Blaine's ears perked up at the sound of Kurt's name. He turned more attention on Rachel, who stared at him expectantly. 'Yes?' she mouthed at him. Blaine shook his head and Rachel continued with her conversation.

Five minutes later Rachel had finally hung up.

"What was that all about?" Blaine asked, curious to find out more about Kurt.

"Oh! I was talking to Mercedes. I thought it would be a wonderful idea if all the girls got together to celebrate our win," Rachel explained.

"And Kurt?" Blaine asked hesitantly.

"How do you know Kurt?" Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"I uh…ran into him on the way to the bathroom…literally." Blaine blushed at the memory. Rachel stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"You ran into him? No wonder he looked so disgruntled when he came back in the room."

Blaine's ears were burning red, but he kept his gaze steady on Rachel. "You didn't answer my question."

"Oh right. Yeah, Kurt is normally included in the girls' nights. He's an 'honorary girl' if you will." Rachel said.

"So he's gay?" Blaine asked, trying to smother down thoughts of those bright blue eyes and melodic voice and-oh Rachel is talking.

"…at school."

"I'm sorry, I spaced. What did you say?"

Rachel sighed, "I said, yes, he is the only gay kid at school."

"Man, that's rough," Blaine winced, remembering his days at public school. Rachel placed a comforting hand on Blaine's shoulder and squeezed gently.

"He's a tough guy…and my biggest competition. But I swear to God I will destroy every bottle of hair gel you own if you ever let him know I said that." Rachel said seriously. Blaine looked at her with wide eyes, partly fearful for his stash of hair gel hidden under the counter in the bathroom, partly hopefully at the prospect of seeing Kurt again.

"I won't, I promise." Blaine struggled to keep the giddiness out of his voice. Rachel shot him a funny look but didn't say anything else.

"They are coming over at around eight, so please stay downstairs in the entertainment room, or something. "

"Sure. Congrats, again," Blaine smiled and stood up. Rachel thanked him and turned back to her movie. Blaine went into the kitchen and glanced the clock '7:30'.

"Where are our parents?" Blaine called from where he was worrying over a pot of ramen.

"They are in their rooms. They promised they wouldn't bother me, either," Rachel responded. Blaine nodded and grabbed a fork from the drawer under the sink.

As he stirred around the contents in the boiling water, Blaine's mind wandered, once more, towards Kurt. He barely even knew the kid, but something about him seemed inviting. He just seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Not to mention he was cute, in an innocent kind of way. He definitely wasn't someone Blaine would label as 'hot', but there was an alluring quality to him.

Blaine heard the hiss of the water and cursed as it nearly boiled over. He quickly turned the stove off, just as he heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it!" Rachel yelled. She had changed into her pjs and had her hair in two braids. She opened the door with a wide grin. The grin almost instantly dropped. "It's only you two?"

"Sorry, Rachel. I tried to convince the others to come, but…you know them."

Blaine heard who he assumed to be Mercedes, and peered around the corner. Rachel huffed, but opened the door. Kurt was no longer in his costume, instead he was wearing some complicated multi-layered outfit that had Blaine cringing, thinking about how difficult it would be to put on. But he still looked beyond adorable.

Adorable. That was the word Blaine was looking for. Kurt was adorable.

Said boy was currently inspected the Anderberry house with a scrutinizing look.

"I'm surprised you don't have a small stage, Rachel," He commented dryly.

"Oh, that's downstairs," Rachel laughed. Kurt turned a disbelieving look to Mercedes.

"She has a small stage downstairs. I…"

"I know. The thing isn't that big, though. And before you ask, I only know because I got partnered with her for a science project, once," Mercedes sounded none too happy about it.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

Rachel was a workaholic. Everyone knew that. And it didn't matter if it was for singing or science, she always went overboard. Mercedes had spent an entire week after school trying to perfect the stupid tiny trees on the stupid tiny model volcano.

Blaine grinned at Rachel's blushing face. He had plenty of experience with her work habits, and felt absolutely no sympathy towards her.

"We got an 'A' didn't we?"

Mercedes rolled her eyes and looped an arm through Kurt's. Kurt didn't seem too thrilled in being there, and Mercedes's arm seemed to be the only thing keeping him from leaving. He finished internally criticizing Rachel's choice of pajamas, when he spotted a head of dark hair peering out at them.

He nudged Mercedes and nodded his head towards the wall the boy was hiding behind.

"Hey, Rachel, who's that?" Mercedes pointed towards the kitchen. The head disappeared and Rachel sighed.

"That's Blaine, my younger brother."

"Oh, yeah, I ran into him today," Kurt nodded.

"So he said. I told him to stay downstairs, so he shouldn't bother us. Now come on, let's go upstairs." Rachel herded the duo up the carpeted stairs and towards her room, her smile returning to her face.

Blaine's heart leapt a little when Kurt mentioned running into him. Kurt remembered him. Blaine suddenly frowned. He remembered him…hooray? The kid was a year older than him and Rachel's friend, and Blaine was just being the stereotypical younger sibling that found his older sibling's friends attractive.

He shook his head and a couple curls escaped their gel confines. He ate his ramen in silence and tried to chase away all thoughts of the other boy upstairs.

* * *

><p>By 11:30, Blaine had already drunken five cans of diet coke and eaten two bags of popcorn. He idly flipped through the channels with a sigh. There was seriously nothing good on TV. He let his mind wander to the little party going on two stories above him.<p>

During the first hour, Rachel had all but blasted her music. Blaine had gritted his teeth and kept himself locked in the basement, refusing to go upstairs and chance a run in with Kurt. If Blaine was honest with himself, he thought it was rather pathetic how intrigued he was by this boy. He had barely even said 10 words to the guy, and he was already thinking about him like some desperate love-struck kid.

Blaine crushed his sixth can of diet coke and stretched the cramps out of his leg. He grabbed his mini pile of cans and empty popcorn bags and dropped them in the garbage across the room. He glanced at the clock and decided to chance going upstairs.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he noticed the upstairs was completely dark, and Blaine tripped over a pair of his sneakers on his way to the light switch. With a curse, he flipped on the switch and kicked the shoes into a corner.

"You alright there?"

Blaine spun around, heart hammering painfully against his chest. Kurt was leaning against the stair banister, an amused grin on his face.

"Oh my god, you scared me." Blaine breathed, desperately trying to calm his racing pulse.

"Sorry, I honestly wasn't meaning to. I was just about to leave, actually," Kurt said while moving towards the coatrack by the door. Blaine watched Kurt pull his jacket on, and floundered to find something, _anything_, to say. His mouth opened and closed several times, and he was beyond thankful that Kurt was too busy putting his shoes on to see Blaine's impersonation of a fish.

"Congrats on your win today," Blaine finally got out. Kurt paused, his scarf half around his neck.

"Thanks," he said and resumed putting on the scarf. Blaine tapped his leg nervously and prepared to say goodbye, when Kurt surprised him by speaking again. "So, Rachel was saying you're also a sophomore?"

"Um, yeah I am."

"But Rachel is older than you," Kurt quirked an eyebrow. Blaine smiled. He had to explain this so many times he could almost plan out the conversation exactly.

"Yes, she is by 10 months. When I transferred schools I skipped a grade. Something about my entrance exam being higher than most kids my age," Blaine shrugged. Kurt looked like he was going to say more, but his phone buzzed and he looked down at it with worry.

"Sorry, I have to go." And Kurt honestly did look sorry. Blaine stammered a good bye, and Kurt disappeared with a grin.

Blaine stared at the door for a minute before snapping back to reality. He backed up until his knees were brushing the couch, and flopped backwards; an arm slung over his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Come on Blaine, time to get up. Blaine! Ugh. Dad, he isn't waking up."<p>

"-mmim wake." Blaine pressed his face into his pillow. He heard Rachel huff and the next thing he knew he was laying on the floor. "Fuuuu…" he blearily opened his eyes and blinked against the harsh sunlight streaming inside his room. Except, this wasn't his room.

Blaine rolled onto his back and found himself staring up at the living room ceiling. Since when does he sleep in here? "Whaz goin on?" he slurred, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Rachel was sitting in the recliner watching him with an amused grin on her face.

"You must have fallen asleep on the couch or something."

Yesterday came rushing back to Blaine, and he remembered falling onto the couch after his run-in with Kurt, and apparently not getting up again. He groaned and flopped back onto the ground.

"What time is it?"

"9:20," Hiram Anderberry said. Blaine cracked an eye open and noticed his dad sitting at the kitchen table, the newspaper spread out in front of him.

"Hey, Dad." Blaine greeted wearily. It was way too early to be up. Rachel snickered and tried to cover it up with a cough. She was staring at him with an amused grin.

"You forgot to take the gel out of your hair last night."

Blaine grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. It was greasy and parts of it were still trying to stay plastered to his head. "Wonderful," he grunted. He lifted himself off the floor and trudged into the kitchen. "Where's Pa?" he asked while pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"He's running some errands," Hiram responded without looking up. Blaine nodded and took a sip of his coffee. He had to start writing a five paged paper due Monday, and he had to learn that new song the Warblers were going to sing at Regionals.

"I'm going to take a shower, then I have to do lots of work so, I'd appreciate not being disturbed," he directed the last part at Rachel, who cried out in protest. He dodged his sister's well aimed kick, and ascended the stairs.

Once in the bathroom, Blaine took the time to gather his thoughts. So, yesterday he had met this really adorable guy named Kurt, who was also gay, not to mention said adorable guy had a sense of humor. Blaine reworded that last thought; he _thought_ Kurt seemed like he had a sense of humor.

Blaine growled in frustration, turned the water on and began undressing. He didn't know this boy. This _older_ boy. This older boy who happened to be _Rachel's friend_. Or acquaintance, at the least.

He stepped into the shower and let the warm water sooth his knotted shoulders. The couch really wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep.

Kurt had the prettiest eyes Blaine had ever seen. Oh, and his skin was so flawless. But don't forget how amazing his hair looked and oh god that ass. Those skinny jeans really accentuated _every_thing.

Blaine moaned and, oh wow, when had his hand wrapped around his cock? He leaned his head against the wall and shut his eyes, desperately trying not to think about how he was jerking off to a guy he barely even knew.

But seriously, those jeans were just begging to be peeled off that wonderfully tight ass. And they really left nothing to the imagination; he looked just as well-endowed in the front-

Blaine's hips jerked forward. He slid his hand up and down his cock faster. He knees were turning to jelly and his stomach was pooling with heat; but _oh god Kurt's eyes, Jesus fuck. _

He gasped as he brought his other hand to rub his balls. He imagined it was someone else's hands, long and cool, and belonging to a tall chestnut haired bo-

"Blaine, hurry up! You've been in there for almost twenty minutes!" Rachel's yell drifted through the door. Blaine's eyes snapped open as his hands flew off his dick, heart pounding.

"O-Okay!" his voice was high and breathless. "Oh my god," he said quietly, placing a hand to his chest. He had just been fantasizing about a guy he had barely said thirty words to. What was wrong with him? It was kind of creepy, if he was being honest. Blaine sighed and looked down. He was still achingly hard. His hand moved back to his cock, and he spent the rest of his shower resolutely _not_ thinking about brilliant blue eyes.

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><p>The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Blaine finished all his homework and memorized all the lyrics and dance steps to the Warblers' song. His other dad came home with dinner, and soon Saturday turned into Sunday.<p>

Blaine was faced with the prospect of an entire day of absolutely nothing to do and nothing to keep his mind off Ku- stress. Off of stress. He ate breakfast listlessly, blank eyes watching Rachel as she talked about her amazing win at Sectionals with their Dads.

"We did so well! Finn was just absolutely fantastic," Rachel sighed dreamily.

"What happened between him and that Quinn girl?" Leroy asked.

"They aren't together anymore," a quick look of guilt flashed in Rachel's eyes. She shrugged and took a bite of her vegan-modified pancakes. "They weren't right for each other, anyways."

"You don't think anyone is right for him," Blaine interjected, "except for yourself, that is."

"Well it's true!" She sniffed disdainfully. "There are many people who like him, but I am the best match."

"And how are you so sure?" Blaine shot back. He was feeling testy and Rachel just really needed to stop talking about Finn every damn second.

"Well, for starters, Quinn slept with his best friend while she and Finn were still going out. Now his best friend is the baby daddy and Finn doesn't want anything to do with either of them. Well, maybe he wants something to do with Quinn, but not romantically. So that takes care of her. Then there is poor Kurt-"

"Wait, what?" Blaine choked.

"Kurt has been in love with Finn since freshman year. Unfortunately for him, Finn is one-hundred percent straight. Fortunate for me, though. And so that takes care of Kurt. Anyone else who might have a crush on him doesn't really matter because they aren't in Glee club, like we are." Rachel finished smugly.

_Kurt has been in love with Finn since freshman year_.

Blaine sat numbly in his seat, barely aware of Rachel's continued babbling. Kurt was in love with Finn. Why did Blaine feel like he had been punched in the gut?

"Blaine, you okay?" Hiram asked, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Uh yeah, sorry, just spaced out. I uh. I gotta go. Wes wants to meet up and practice our new song," Blaine stammered and stood up from the table. Both his parents opened their mouths to say something, but he called out a quick 'bye' and walked out the door.

As he pulled out of his drive way he tried to rationalize why he was so upset. He didn't know Kurt. Kurt didn't know Blaine. Why did it matter to him if Kurt was in love with a guy he could never have?

Blaine stopped at a red light as realization dawned on his face. He knew what it was like to have a crush on someone who could never recuperate the feelings, he could sympathize with Kurt. That must be it; he must just feel bad for Kurt because he knows how much it was going to hurt. He had been mistaking his thoughts for Kurt as something romantic, when in reality; Blaine just found kindred spirits in Kurt and wanted to look out for him.

Yes, that had to be it.

Blaine hadn't been lying when he said Wes wanted to practice, he would just be a little early. Feeling much better now, he continued on his way to Wes's house with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

As the year progressed, Blaine thought less and less of Kurt. Rachel rarely spoke about him, and when she did, it usually involved Finn. Blaine couldn't keep up with all the drama at McKinley. One day Rachel would be dating Finn, the next she was with some guy named Jesse St. James. It was all too over the top for him.

Blaine never told his friends about his short lived obsession with Kurt, so eventually the well-dressed brunette with the brilliant blue eyes slipped completely from his mind. There were plenty of other guys at Dalton that kept him busy, anyway. Well, that wasn't necessarily true. There were plenty of guys at Dalton that Blaine found attractive, but none that he wanted to date.

Rachel liked to brag that she had more experience in the romance department, which Blaine found extremely scary. He wasn't sure how someone like his sister (while very attractive, but extremely annoying) could have had more boyfriends in the past year, than his entire life.

Later in the year, Wes and David convinced Blaine to try out for a solo. According to them, it was one of the best things to ever happen to the Warblers. The first performance Blaine sung a solo in was the most popular show to date. If the Warblers were cool before, now they were rock stars.

Rachel had seen the performance as competition, electing to give Blaine icy stares the entire time. After the show, and with some prodding from their parents, she grudgingly congratulated him. Blaine took her glares in stride and instead thought of it as a compliment. He was so good that he had Rachel worried; now that took some real talent.

The Warblers went onto regionals, however; they lost at Nationals. Unfortunately, this gave Rachel another reason to give him the cold shoulder. The New Directions lost at Regionals, and Rachel ignored him for the rest of the week.

That year, Rachel also found her birth mother. It wasn't something neither she nor Blaine had really thought much about. They loved their parents and, even though they were sometimes curious as to what their birth mothers looked like, they were indifferent on the matter. Meeting her real mom had really shaken Rachel up, if only because they were so similar.

Blaine wasn't sure what he would do if he met his real mother. Maybe wonder why she gave him away, or why she had a baby in the first place if she couldn't keep one.

Blaine and Rachel weren't related by blood, as many people seemed to think they were. Although they shared some similar traits, they were purely coincidental. Rachel's mom had wanted to be a surrogate. Shelby had made the choice to have a baby for the Anderberrys. Blaine's mom had put him up for adoption when he was only one week old. Leroy and Hiram had no idea who his birth mother was, and they had no desire to find out.

Blaine was now a junior and on top of the world. He was one of the most popular guys at Dalton, and Wes and David (now being on the council) let him have a little input on what songs they sang for competitions. Blaine was surrounded by fantastic friends and he and Rachel were getting along better than ever. He had never thought he would ever be this happy again.

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><p>Blaine grabbed his bag from the floor and hurried out of his dorm. He was going to be late to practice…again. And not just any practice, but an impromptu performance. Wes and David could only give him so many allowances until the other Warblers started crying favorites. He dashed down the hallway and onto the stair well. Flipping open the pocket watch his Pa had gotten him for Christmas last year, he noticed he was already five minutes late.<p>

"Excuse me…"

Blaine stopped at the bottom of the steps as someone tapped him on the shoulder. He tried to mask his annoyance as he glanced up from his watch at the stranger.

"Um, hi. Can I ask you a question? I'm new here."

No way. There was no possible way.

"My name's Blaine."

"Kurt…"

Oh my god it was. Blaine stared at Kurt with wide eyes. Bright blue ones stared right back.

"I know you." His voice was still soft and soothing. He cocked his head to the side as he tried to remember Blaine. "You're Rachel's brother." A brief look of panic flashed through Kurt's eyes.

"Yeah, we ran into each other at your sectionals last year," Blaine grinned. Kurt's smile didn't reach his eyes.

"So what exactly is going on?" Kurt cleared his throat. Blaine remembered that he was still late for his meeting, and, wait-

Rachel would have mentioned if Kurt was transferring to Dalton. She would have mentioned if _any_one was transferring to Dalton, then made a huge fuss about it and demanded Blaine give them back. Kurt also wasn't wearing a uniform, something that everyone new student received upon arrival.

Blaine noticed the large sunglasses in Kurt's left hand and his horrible imitation of a Dalton blazer, and smiled warmly. Kurt was trying to spy on the Warblers. Poorly, at that.

"The Warblers! Every now and then they throw an impromptu performance. Tends to shut the school down for a while." Blaine would play along, see how everything unfolded.

"So wait, the glee club is actually kind of cool here?" Kurt seemed genuinely surprised. Blaine instantly sympathized with the poor boy, having heard all about the crap the New Directions got from Rachel.

"The warblers are like…rock stars," Blaine chuckled at his personal inside joke. He was feeling so strong and brave this year. He had friends, popularity, good grades, and a great family, so what was life without a couple of risks? And with that thought in his mind, he grabbed Kurt's hand. "Come on, I know a shortcut."

He probably should have let go of Kurt's hand, or at least switched hands, but Blaine could barely think straight because wow, Kurt was at his school. Kurt, the adorable brunette who, at one point, had haunted his dreams for several weeks. His face had lost some of its roundness and whoa, hey there cheekbones where did you come from?

As they entered the choir room, Kurt's grip on his hand tightened for the briefest of seconds, before he let go.

"Wow, I stick out like a sore thumb," he breathed. Blaine chuckled and tugged a little on Kurt's makeshift Warbler uniform.

"Next time don't forget your uniform, new kid. Now if you'll excuse me," Blaine smiled at Kurt's confused face. Rachel didn't tend to talk much about Blaine, so of course Kurt didn't know Blaine was now one of the main singers for the Warblers.

Blaine joined his fellow glee clubbers and started into 'Teenage Dream'. Looking out into the crowd, all Blaine could focus on was Kurt. The boy looked so upset, and Blaine just couldn't have that; he was going to make Kurt smile if it killed him. He put a little more pizazz in his step and sang directly at Kurt.

If someone had told Blaine last year he would be singing 'Teenage Dream' to the boy who had caused many awkward sheet washings in the middle of the week, he would have laughed in their face and personally put them in a loony bin.

But here he was. And there Kurt was…still not smiling. He was looking around the room with a frown. Blaine internally panicked, was something wrong with the room? Was it too messy? Were the guys too obnoxious? Kurt's eyes roamed around until they settled on Blaine again.

Blaine smiled and quickly pointed at him, "Now you'll be my Valentine."

Kurt's eyes widened and a grin finally appeared. It started off really small, but by the time the song was over, Kurt had a huge smile and was clapping animatedly. The room was loud with applause and students jumped all over place, trying to imitate the performance they had just seen.

Blaine mentally patted himself on the back as he got caught up in the crowd of cheering fans; he had made Kurt smile. Someone grabbed his shoulders and dragged him to the side of the room, and he turned around to face Wes and David.

"Oh hey, guys. Great job!" he said enthusiastically.

"Yeah you, too; just like always. So uh hey-"

"Who was that guy you were talking to earlier?" David finished Wes's question.

"What guy?"

Wes and David leveled Blaine with a blank stare. "Don't play stupid," Wes said bluntly.

"It's very unbecoming," David teased.

"His name is Kurt. I ran into him on the stairs." Blaine shrugged.

"Is that why you were so late?" Wes raised an eyebrow. Blaine smiled sheepishly and looked at David for support. David shook his head and grinned.

"Um, maybe?"

Wes rolled his eyes and sighed. "What am I going to do with you, Blaine?"

"Not punish me?"

"If you explain to me why you let a spy into our practice, then I'll think about it," Wes deadpanned. Blaine glanced quickly at David, who just shrugged.

"It was pretty obvious," David explained.

"Then you also noticed how upset he looked?" Blaine looked between Wes and David. David turned to Wes and they had a mental conversation that involved a lot of complicated hand gestures. Blaine stared at them in amazement, contemplating why he was friends with them.

"Yes, we did."

"Which is why we didn't kick him out," Wes added.

"And we figured we would find out the real reason he was spying. I mean, even if he was upset, we can't just let him waltz in and out of our practice as he pleases," David finished.

"You mean you'll go talk to him with me?" Blaine said hopefully. Wes and David nodded and, oh yeah, this was why he was friends with them. "Sweet! He's right over…uh." The spot Kurt was vacating was now empty. "He _was _right over there."

"Let's go find him," Wes proposed. "He couldn't have gotten too far; this school is like a maze."

* * *

><p>An hour later, the trio found Kurt wandering outside the main library.<p>

"You need some help?"

Kurt jumped at the sound of Blaine's voice. He spun around, a hand coming up to his chest.

"Oh my God. Um. Hi," he said timidly. He looked for a way out of the room, eyes panicked.

"Hey, hey it's okay," Blaine raised his hands in a 'we come in peace' gesture.

"Yeah we just want to talk," Wes added. Kurt's eyes quickly dart between the three of them. He still looked panicked, but he wasn't objecting.

"Why don't we talk over coffee?" Blaine asked gently. Wes and David started walking towards the café, Blaine and Kurt trailing behind. Kurt didn't say anything the entire trip, and Blaine didn't want to pressure him into talking. It wasn't an awkward silence, per se, but it definitely wasn't comfortable either. Blaine, Wes, and David grabbed their coffee and Blaine got something he hopped Kurt would like. As they sat down across from the brunette, Blaine slid the drink over to him.

"Latte?"

"Thank you."

"This is Wes and David," Blaine gestured to his friends.

"It's very civilized for you to invite me to coffee before you beat me up for spying," Kurt murmured. Blaine clenched his teeth in anger. If Kurt's first thought was that they were going to beat him up, something seriously wrong was happening at McKinley.

"We are not going to beat you up," Wes quickly intervened and Blaine took a sip of his latte to stop himself from yelling in anger.

"You were such a terrible spy we thought it was sort of…endearing," David laughed gently. Blaine put his cup down and looked Kurt straight in the eyes.

"Which made me think that spying on us wasn't really the reason you came." _And Rachael would have said something_. Kurt smiled politely before looking down. This wasn't the Kurt Blaine had briefly met last year. The Kurt last year was assertive, this Kurt looked like he was withering away before their very eyes.

"Can I ask you guys a question?" the trio nodded to the rhetorical question, "Are you guys all gay?" Blaine couldn't help but chuckle. Everyone always assumed Dalton was filled with gay boys, and while Blaine was, he knew Wes and David got tired of people thinking they were gay. It really put a dent on their mingling with girls ("You both have girlfriends" "Shh, a little harmless flirting isn't bad).

Instantly Kurt's face fell and _oh god why are we laughing?_ Blaine sobered up quickly, ignoring the twinge of guilt. "Uh, uh no. I mean I am," _hasn't Rachel told you? _"But uh these two have girlfriends."

The look of relief on Kurt's face was enough to knock the air out of Blaine, so he was glad when David spoke up. "This is not a gay school; we just have a zero tolerance harassment policy."

"Everybody gets treated the same, no matter what they are," Wes added. "It's pretty simple." Kurt looked like everything he knew in life was crashing down around him; like he had never heard of tolerance or equality. Blaine's heart ached for him.

"Would you guys excuse us?" The words were out of his mouth before he even realized he had thought them. Wes and David exchanged a quick look and stood up.

"Take it easy, Kurt," Wes gave a small wave and then Blaine's two best friends were gone. Kurt didn't mean Blaine's eyes, instead staring fixedly at the table.

"I take it you're having trouble at school." Blaine wanted to smack himself; _no shit he's having trouble, why do you think he's here on the verge of tears?_

"I'm the only person out of the closet at my school." A tear fell from Kurt's startlingly blue eyes and Blaine just wanted to hug him until he no longer hurt. He knew there were no gay kids besides Kurt at McKinley. Rachel liked to keep tabs on all of them, something about finding Blaine a potential boyfriend someday. "And I-I try to strong about it but," Kurt's voice faltered for a second, "there's this Neanderthal who's made it his mission to make my life a living hell." Kurt stopped, his eyes glazed as if he were remembering all the times he had been hurt by this 'Neanderthal'. "And nobody seems to notice."

Blaine felt his body tense at Kurt's last words. Why wasn't Rachel doing something? Why hadn't she realized Kurt needed somebody? He was brought back to his own time at public school. When life had been hell and no one seemed to give a damn if he lived or not.

"I know how you feel," and he couldn't believe he was telling Kurt this, he barely knew the boy. "I got taunted at my old school and it really…pissed me off." _Understatement of the year. _He glanced to the side, consumed in his own memories of the day when everything changed. "I even complained about it to the faculty, and they were sympathetic and all, but you could just tell…nobody really cared." It hurt saying this. He remembered coming home with bruises, hoping Rachel would notice force to tell their parents; but she was as oblivious it ever. "It was like: Hey, if you're gay, your life's just going to be miserable, sorry, nothing we can do about it."

Kurt looked away from Blaine, mulling over that he wasn't alone. "So I left…I came here. Simple as that." And he felt guilty about it since day one. He didn't know how his parents were affording it, and he hated having to make Rachel worry ("I'll worry more if you stay at that horrible school.") but it was the only way he would be safe. "So you have two options. I mean I would love to tell you to just come enroll here," _he really would_, "but tuition at Dalton is steep and I know that's not an option for everybody," _not an option for himself but a matter of survival_. "_Or_, you can refuse to be the victim."

Kurt started contemplatively at him and Blaine pondered at his own words. Since when was he qualified to give out sagely advice like that? What if he said something and it made matters worse? "Prejudice is just ignorance," a fact his parents had drilled into his head very early in life, "Kurt, and you have a chance right to teach them."

"How?"

"Confront 'em. Call 'em out. I ran, Kurt. I didn't stand up. I let bullies chase me away and it is something I really, really regret."

Kurt was quiet, searching Blaine's face for hints of betrayal or laughter or any of the other shit the bullies probably put him through. Blaine was agitated; with himself, with Rachel, with McKinley.

"Why do I barely know you? I've known Rachel for three years now," Kurt asked out of the blue. Blaine raised an eyebrow in surprise. He wasn't sure, to be honest. Rachel didn't tend to talk about him much, and he had never really minded.

"I guess it's her way of protecting me," Blaine finally said.

"You're nothing like her," Kurt's mouth lifted in a tiny smile, eyes still glassy from unshed tears. Blaine chuckled and searched his pockets for a sharpie.

"So I've been told." He uncapped the sharpie and laid out his hand on the table. "Can I see your hand?" he asked gently. Kurt eyed him warily and slowly placed his own on top of Blaine's. It was soft and warm and Blaine really wanted to twine their fingers together. Instead he reached over and wrote his number on the inside of Kurt's palm. "In case you ever need anything. I would tell you to call Rachel, but I board here, and she'd forget to give me the message."

Kurt stared at his hand in amazement, before remembering it was still cupped in Blaine's and jumped back. He stood up, causing his chair to scoot back.

"Thank you. For the latte and for this and for not beating me up," he chuckled weakly. Blaine watched in amusement as a light pink flushed Kurt's ears. "I should probably go, though. My dad will be worried sick." He glanced around the room, ears burning brighter.

"I'll show you to the exit," Blaine smiled.


End file.
